Step 25: Place your table + glow!

Really light up your next dinner party with a table that glows in the dark!

Photoluminescent (glow) powder mixed with clear casting resin fills the naturally formed voids in Pecky Cypress hardwood, creating a unique and stunning table. The glow powder charges up in sunlight and emits a cool blue glow when in partial or complete darkness.

Placing this table near a window will allow it to collect rays from the setting sun and then set off a pleasant glow from the transition from twilight to evening. Making your own is fun as you can customize it in any way you want. Instead of using hardwood you can use the technique of adding glow powder to resin to cast in all kinds of fun ways.

Let's make!

Step 1: Materials

The type of wood I used for this table is known as 'pecky cypress', which is regular cypress that has been naturally damaged with a fungal growth inside causing sections to rot - wiki on taxadium distichum (cypress).

These damaged pockets can be easily removed and create cavities in the wood which are perfect for filling with resin and glow powder. The pockets of damaged (rotten) cypress are soft and can easily be removed with compressed air and some light digging with a hand tool.

<p>My problem with my work, an din the bidness I ran for a few decades, is that I never, ever, ask what I, or my work's, worth. I know the scale/metric for calculating but I can never get myself to do it.</p><p>The table's amazing and I thought, if I were to sell one....$900. (Which I know is slave wages).</p><p>How do you do with it at that price point???</p><p>I especially dug your leg mounting system...</p><p>cheers</p>

This is incredibly AWESOME!!!!! Love it :) Keep up the good work Mike :D

<p>Hi Mike. I'm going to do a concrete layer on my dining room table. I love the look of this glow in the dark method. So I was thinking of making random channels/grooves in the cement before it dries and adding the glow in the dark element. Also, I would like to do more of a cobalt blue, but the brand you recommend has a purple/blue selection, not just a cobalt blue. It sounds to me like you would need to use more of the pigment to get to the blue side of the product. Do you have any knowledge of the color application, or should I try to find another brand that carries a cobalt blue color? My dining room has windows on 2 sides, would that be sufficient light to activate the glow? Do you think my ideas would work with the cement?</p>

<p>Fun idea! This should totally work with concrete, but I recommend letting the concrete completely cure before doing the glow resin. Also, do a test piece before committing to a table.</p><p>The link I give goes to a store that has a few choices of color. Be careful as some colors look different in daylight than they do at night. </p><p>I think your table location as you describe it should be enough to glow. Most incandescent bulbs also charge the glow powder. <br>Good luck, I can't wait to see your results! :)</p>

<p>Step 7: What sort of paper is used to contain the resin? This seems like an important point, given the wrong type would adhere and be a fuss to remove later. </p>

<p>From step 7</p><blockquote>To keep the resin from oozing out the ends I put <strong>scrap strips of thick acrylic along both ends</strong>. I didn't worry about the sides, as these boards didn't have any open cavities along the sides. The acrylic scraps were clamped into place and a <strong>short border of masking tape</strong> was put along the sides, just in case any resin migrated.</blockquote>

<p>Hi Mike,</p><p>Really, really love the table. I'm going to try something similar and have been conducting tests using the glow powder and resin linked in your article. However, I can't get anything that matches the glow intensity of yours. I've been testing the ratio of resin to glow powder using your ratio in addition to one with increasing glow powder, in addition to the depth of the void that is being filled. I'm wondering how deep your voids are and whether that's the variable I'm missing? I'm also wondering how opaque yours are during daylight? I'm guessing that the glow powder concentration can actually get too high, making the resin too opaque and therefore limiting the amount, or depth, of light that can get in and out.</p><p>Also, I was theorising how I could increase the glow and wondered whether you'd experimented with mirrors? Given the glow resin will emit light in all directions when excited, less then 50% of the emitted light will be visible as the rest will go into the walls and floor of the void. If broken parts of a mirror were lined on the floor of the void, it would reflect this lost light back out to the viewer. I will try it with some broken mirror shards, but wondered whether you had first.</p><p>Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p><p>Cheers,</p><p>P</p>

<p>The glow powder is heavier than what the resin can support, so it will sink to the bottom of the voids. A great trick is to do multiple pours, one to fill the voids most of the way with resin and another after the first is hardened with the glow powder so it's closer to the surface. My table voids are opaque during daylight hours, it's a bone-white color. </p><p>I think you'd really have to be overdoing it to have too much glow powder in your resin, the ratios I show work just fine. Adding mirrors I think is unnecessary .</p><p>I'd love to see some of your results and it's great that you're doing test pieces before committing. Good luck!</p>

<p>Question; I see you went from sanding to coating with poly. But what if you wanted to stain the wood with a color, then poly. Are there any other steps you'd need to take in order to do this? Or any other considerations on using stain?</p>

<p>After sanding you could easily add a stain, then coat with poly to protect the wood. I'd suggest trying a sample on a scrap piece of the same wood, just to dial in the process.</p><p>I'd love to see pictures when you're finished. Good luck!</p>

<p>Hey! Awesome product! I'd like to try new application with rock but will the powder work with basic epoxy resin? like &quot;west system&quot;</p>

<p>Yes, any epoxy resin should work. I'd do a small test casting before committing to the final piece. Please share pictures when you're done. Good luck!</p>

Thank you so much for the inspiration! Here is my take on the table

<p>The table came out great, and those large voids look amazing!</p><p>Thanks for sharing pictures. You rock!</p>

<p>I tried to order the powder but you don't seem to be delivering where I live... is there a way have it delivered to west indies? </p>

<p>Thanks so much for sharing this project, it really inspired me to do something myself. My daughter needed a small stereo cabinet, and I took the opportunity to make it even better than she expected. </p><p>The cabinet is fairly small, 18&quot; x 26&quot; x 15&quot;, made largely of maple with a live-end pear-wood top. I asked her to draw a design for me, transposed it to the side, and carved out the picture with a Dremel tool. I filled it with the epoxy/glow powder combo, and sanded it down. I poured it on a little thick, but with the help of a belt sander and time for the resin to harden (about 4 days), I was able to get it nice and smooth. She was really pleased with the result. I included some photos from before the final sanding and varnishing.</p>

<p>Wow! The live edge top is great, but the glow design really sets this piece off. I love how you and your daughter collaborated to make this happen, and I know she's going to love it for years to come.</p><p>Thanks for sharing the story and pictures!</p>

When I first saw your work, I knew I had to make one of my own! The wood wasn't to hard to find. Luckily I work at a lumber mill, so I got two six foot planks for free. Your instructions were really easy to follow! After a few weeks of hard work it was finally finished.Thank you for great ideas and instructions!

<p>Looks great! I am still amazed by my glow table, so I know you'll be enjoying the effect for a while to come. Also, there's no better feeling than an amazing thing you made yourself.</p><p>Thanks for sharing pictures and your story!</p>

Thanks Mike! And yes It's a good feeling too accomplish something beautiful with your own two hands! I'm looking forward for my next projects. I'm going to make a bigger table using 7/4 Pecky cypress and a curve ball that my wife gave me.. A round table!

<p>Please post pictures when you're done. Good luck!</p>

Absolutely beautiful and very easy to understand instructable! Thank you so much for sharing! I can't wait to try this!

<p>I admire your work with this table, looks great and the glow effect is realy awesome.</p><p>A while ago I acquired a walnut slab with beautiful natural cracks adn decided to fill it with epoxy resin. I got a little to excited doing that and the resin boiled, but in my opinion it looks pretty good. Of course it was sanded, water polished, and at the end covered with clear lacquer. Hope you like it.</p><p>Regards from Poland<br>Gabriel</p>

<p>Wow! Thanks for sharing, it looks great.</p><p>Epoxy resin can boil if it's poured too thick. Bes tto do 2-3 pours for larger voids to get a clear casting. however, I think it looks really nice the way it is here. Great work!</p>

<p>I'm happy that you like it. And yes I've learned to pour smaller amout of epoxy. Now, working on another table with about 44mmtthick slab I poured it 8 or 9 times so it should be perfectly clear when finnished. As soon as it's done there will be a nice gallery picturing the progress of creation.</p><p>Thanks again!</p><p>Regards</p><p>G</p>

<p>Hi Mike. Thank you so much for your instructions. I have been wanting to make a glow in the dark table since I came across your instructions some time ago. A friends wedding finally gave me the excuse I needed. As a complete amateur with limited woodworking experience I found the instructions easy to follow. A friend helped me by sourcing a large plank of sweet chestnut (no pecky cypress in the UK?!), saw it &amp; join 2 pieces for the table to be the gift so I could make a river for teh resin down the middle. I made 2 - one a prototype to make all my mistakes on first. I had only 2 problems was there was a bit of a delay in getting the resin, as was difficult to get large volume in the UK, so had to order from the US and my damming of the resin wasn't effective on the prototype due to unseen cracks going all the way through the wood which meant I resined the plank to the floor, but all sorted. I finished them with 2-3 coats of teak oil rather than varnish which will hopefully mellow over time. Didn't get a photo of the finished gift table glowing in the dark due to my poor photography skills, but some here of the tables, glowing table tops &amp; finished prototype table in semi daylight.</p>

<p>Both tables look amazing! Thanks for sharing your work.</p><p>Pecky Cypress is difficult to source, but any wood with voids will work (and can look just as good, as you have shown). Buying resin online is the best way I've found to reliably get the quantity you need, there's loads of types but <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Y46G10/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004Y46G10&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwmichaelsau-20&linkId=TI2XDYBDSCXA5J3Y" target="_blank">this is what I used</a>.</p><p>Love the pictures, thanks again for sharing them. Enjoy the Pro Membership!</p>

I love the idea and had one question. thinking of making a patio table and was wondering what type of finish, outdoor varnish has a UV blocker in it so was wondering your suggestions.

<p>Mike, I love the concept. I would love to do this just for the color and not the glow effect. What powder could I use? I am thinking countertops in a kitchen.</p>

<p>A <a href="http://amzn.to/2bzzcl7" target="_blank">powder pigment</a> would be fine. Always cast a small test before committing to the final project. I'd love to see your results! A colorful countertop sounds so nice.</p>

<p>Will this type of epoxy work, and do I need to buy a full gallon of this. This is for 16 oz.</p><p><a href="https://www.michaels.com/easy-cast-clear-casting-epoxy/10408248.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.michaels.com/easy-cast-clear-casting-epoxy/10408248.html</a></p>

Im in the process of doing something similar, do you think it would still glow as well with a thin cout of clear resin poured across the top?

<p>A thin layer will glow a little, but the depth of the voids is what gives the glow resin the look you see here.</p>

<p>Hey Mike, do you mind providing the source of where you buy the Pecky Cypress in a size that's manageable for cutting into the right dimensions? I'm having a tough time finding a local source.</p>

<p>This type of wood is a regional thing, but can be found at some lumber yards. Luckily, any type of wood that has voids in it will work, so the type of wood isn't as important as the process.</p>

<p>I plan to build an electric guitar at some point and when I get into inlays this looks like it will come in handy!!! Might even make a similar table at some point :D</p>

<p>Very nice table, it looks great. That being said, I mean no offense in anyway from these questions, I'm just curious, but...</p><p>Any time in the past that I've applied epoxy resign to wood I'd go over it with a small torch/heat gun/hair dryer to get out as much of the trapped air as possible as to avoid the epoxy looking hazy/milky white. Was there a reason this wasn't done? I didn't know if it was an aspect of this type of epoxy additive (to glow in the dark) that would be ruined by doing this step? Was it this omitted step for the reason why the spots that were epoxied having a milky appearance when not glowing or is it the additive that allows it to glow? Beautiful table regardless I'm just checking because I just wanted to get an idea of what the appearance will be when not glowing. Thanks a lot and again, very nice table.</p>

<p>Step 10 explains the pour process here. Since there were so many small voids I did several small pours to ensure the coverage needed and stay within the pot life of the mixed resin. The milky appearance is a function of how the glow powder looks in daylight, a bone white color. Even with small air bubbles, the resin is clear but looks hazy from the glow powder. You could easily use a torch to remove any air bubbles, or give it a hot breath from your mouth at close range will also work.</p><p>I used a propane torch to remove bubbles in epoxy, you can see that in <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Lumberjack-table/" target="_blank" style="background-color: initial;">Step 10 and 11 of my Lumberjack Table.</a></p><p>I'd love to see your creation based on this when you're done. Good luck!</p>

<p>thanks for the reply and I'll definitely post some pics if i make it with this type of inlay...where I could use anothers opinion is with this- I don't want to take away from the very rustic looking wood I'm using but love the way the turquoise looks when glowing, I'm just nervous that the glow pigments when not glowing would look bad (like a bad epoxy job full of air bubbles). Any thoughts? Thanks a lot for your input!</p>

<p>The natural color of the glow powder is bone white, an alternative would be to accent the feature and use a glow powder that stays a color in natural light like this: <a href="http://amzn.to/1PMgBV3" style="background-color: initial;">http://amzn.to/1PMgBV3</a>. Either way, you will see something in the voids, just depends on what look you are going for. </p><p>I always recommend trying a sample mix and pour on scrap before committing. If you have more of the same type of wood it's best to try on that. This way you can dial in the amount of glow powder, the technique, and analyse the results. </p>

<p>Hi! I&rsquo;m an editor for Remodelaholic.com and am writing to request permission to use one of your table photos in an upcoming post. We would like to feature this in a round up and would include a backlink and clear credit to you.</p><p>Please let me know if this would work for you. Thanks for your consideration!</p><p>Kimberly</p>

<p>Any practical experience on how long glow powder lasts? And the referenced resin doesn't mention UV resistance. Are you really keeping this outdoors or just for photo op?</p>

<p>Glow powder should last a very long time, years.</p><p>Look for a resin that is UV stable and non-yellowing. The stuff I link to in Step 1 is both. </p><p>If you're planning on having a table outside it needs to be sealed with exterior polyurethane and an exterior grade resin.</p>

I was under the impression that UV stable resin and outdoor polyurethane both block UV light and therefore reduce our eliminate the effectiveness of glow in the dark paint. Could you shed some light (pun intended) on the apparent error in this rumor?

<p>I haven't noticed any reduction in efficacy with the UV coatings I've used. Since I can't test every variation, I suggest testing your glow powder/resin/poly combination on a small piece before committing to your final project. </p>